Unity Broker
Unity Broker is the fifth short in Back in Action: Alien Universe. Story <----Please note, this episode takes place between Overcoming Adversaries and Ledger Recon.----> open on Earth in Bellwood, on a bright afternoon. Ben holds a movie ticket in hand and is walking towards a cinema with Julie to his left. Julie has her arms wrapped around Ben's right arm. Julie (walking toward the cinema with Ben): Sure is great to get out of the house on a Friday. Ben (walking toward the cinema with Ben): You can say that again. Three tests in one week, and two of them were from Mr. Kennedy can only be topped off by this Sumo Slammers 4. Julie: Well, you've been getting better in his classes. Maybe he'll finally give you that B, at least. Ben: You really think so? Julie: Anything can happen. Ben: You know, with you tutoring me with Physics, I think I should start helping you with something. You got any problems in any class? Julie: Well, I do need some help with-- Julie stops mid-sentence, distracted by something at the cinema. Ben: What? Julie points to the cinema. Right before Ben repeats "What?", the two watch as a space ship drops from the heavens onto the cinema, crushing it. As pieces of the cinema begin to fly around the area, Ben covers Julie by facing his back to the explosion, which pushes the two onto the floor, Ben on top of her. As dust stops flying around from the explosion, we see the two still on the floor, Ben now hunched over Julie as Humungousaur. Julie (weakly): Ben-you're-crushing-me. Humungousaur, whose eyes had been closed, opens his eyes. He gets up off of Julie. Humungousaur: Err, sorry. He raises his large hand out at Julie to help her up. She puts her hand in Humungousaur, and he lightly tugs to get her back on her feet. Reminds me of the pier. Remember? Julie: Yeah, except back then I was a little freaked out by a huge dinosaur on top of me. Humungousaur: Sorry, again. Now, whose ship was that? He turns around to look at the ship. The back of it opens up, releasing three white-skinned male humans in black suits and sunglasses. They jump out of their ship and land just in front of the broken cinema. Hey, why did you guys do that? There were innocent people in there! And my girlfriend and I had tickets to-- The suited man in the center raises his hand for Humungousaur to stop talking. His signal succeeds in stop Humungousaur. Suited Man #1 (center, lowering his hand): Please hand over Camille Mann. She is going back home. Humungousaur: What? Camille? I haven't seen her in years. Plus, what do you guys want with her? And where is "home?" Julie: Ben, who is Camille? Humungousaur: My cousin once removed Joel's wife. Suited Man #1: And that is what we disprove of. Hand her back to us, now. Humungousaur: No. I don't know who you people are or what you want with her. And even if I did know, I said I don't know where she is. Suited Man #1: You are lying. You must know where your soon-to-be former relative is. The suited men throw their sunglasses away, revealing eyes that glow pink. Soon, they tear through their skin and become much taller and disfigured. They become Sludgepuppies, each standing at the same height of at least fifteen feet tall. Sludegepuppy #1/Suited Man #1 (center): Where is she, Ben Tennyson? Humungousaur: I said I don't know already. But you guys seem hard of hearing. Let me knock the water out of your ear. Humungousaur picks up a chunk of rock and tosses it in the center Sludgepuppy's direction. The Sludgepuppy knocks it out of his way, slicing it in half as he does so. Sludgepuppy #1: Nice try, but these petty earth structures stand not in our way, even if one were to come in contact with me. Humungousaur: Then I guess you're going to need something a bit stronger than rock. His body begins to grow in size until he becomes twenty feet tall, armor appearing on his forehead and shoulders. IT'S HERO TIME! He runs after the Sludgepuppies as quickly as his colossal body permits, but the Sludgepuppies all begin to barrage him with sludge, slowly holding him back. Soon enough, he is knocked back in the air in Julie's direction. Julie simply stands there in shock. Julie, no! Oh, man, this better not hurt! He reverts to human and braces for impact by putting his arms in front of his face. At that point, Julie jumps out of the way and engages her Galvanic Mechamorph suit. Realizing Julie had gotten out of the way, he transforms into Rath and perfectly lands on his feet. He flips around and prepares to attack the Sludgepuppies, but stops as he realizes Julie running after the Sludgepuppies. They immediately smack her down into the ground on her back and wrap her in hardened Sludge. She reverts to her human form. Rath: OH, NOW YOU'VE GOTTEN RATH'S FULL ATTENTION, SLUDGEPUPPIES FROM SPACE LOOKING FOR MY ALIEN AUNT. YOU CAN HUR RATH ALL YOU WANT, BUT WHEN YOU TOUCH JULIE YAMAMOTO, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GETTING A BEATDOWN. He leaps ten feet in the air with ease and sharpens the claw protruding out of his right hand as he prepares to lay his right fist into the center Sludgepuppy's face. Before reaching the Sludgepuppy, the alien reaches its hand out to catch Rath in its hand, but Rath cuts throw the sludge. The Sludgepuppy takes new measures, simply moving out of the way. OH NO, OH NO, OH NOOO! He crashes down into the wreckage of the cinema, his claw forced to stick itself into the building. The Sludgepuppy to the right of the center of Sludgepuppy grabs Rath and tosses him away. Before hitting a building across the street, Rath transforms into Big Chill. He continues towards the building, though, phasing through it as soon as he arrives at it. Big Chill then comes out of the ground, freezing each Sludgepuppy's whole body, then floating a few inches away. Back turned to the sludge aliens, he wipes his hand. Big Chill: Villains really gotta know when to back down. Big Chill hears a piece of the ice being broken through. He quickly turns around, but it is too late as he is thrust onto the ground and wrapped in wet sludge that quickly hardens. He attempts to phase through it, but his attempts to become intangible are fruitless. He continues to struggle to get out of the hardened sludge confines. Sludgepuppy #1: You will not be escaping. Now, if you do not know the location of Camille Mann, then surely you know where Max Tennyson is. Big Chill's eyes open wide, surprised to hear the name. Big Chill (lying, indicated by his left eye twitching slightly): I have no idea where Grandpa is. Sludgepuppy #1: Lies. We know of your close affiliation with your grandfather. We've spotted him at your side in every large-scale battle, even at that forced wedding of Camille's. Big Chill: "Forced?" Sludgepuppy #1: Yes, and we seek to nullify that marriage. Now, where is your grandfather? Big Chill: I don't know what you're talking about. Sludgepuppy #1: Choose to play like that. He will arrive sooner or-- A white Humvee-like Plumber vehicle arrives at the scene. Exiting from the car, which features bulletproof windows on all six sides, are five Plumbers in white armor with black arms and black helmets which disguise their identity. Four of the Plumbers, each of similar builds, have blue visors over their eyes and large guns in hand, already targeted at the Sludgepuppies. The wider, bulkier leader, on the other hand, has a dark red visor and no weapon in hand. Plumber Leader (right hand raised with a fist facing the sky): Unregistered, unidentified Sludgepuppies, please stand down and be taken into Plumber custody for processing, or take your ship and decamp to wherever you came from. Sludgepuppy #1: Hmm...how about no. Plumber Leader: Your choice. He opens his fist to a flat palm. The Plumbers behind him open fire at the Sludgepuppies, as he removes a gun from his back much larger than his team's. STAND DOWN! The Sludgepuppies for a short time absorb the Plumbers' ammunition as if it's all nothing. They get tired of this—even audibly yawning to show it—and throw small walls of sludge at all but the leading Plumber. Each of the leader's men have their guns knocked out of their hands, by the reflection of their ammo. They are then encased in the hardened sludge from the puppies, unable to escape. They are launched into their vehicle at the same time, knocking them out. For the leader, though, his gun is simply removed from his possession, knocked onto the roof of the building behind him. He removes two pistols from his hand, but they meet the same fate as his larger weapon. Sludgepuppy #1: We know who you are. We can see right through that disguise of yours. Plumber Leader: Then you know why I'm taking this so seriously. Sludgepuppy #1: Of course. Each of the Sludgepuppies fires at the leader's feet, sticking him to the ground with sludge. The leader attempts to jump out of the confinement, but continues to be trapped. The Sludgepuppy in the center reverts to his human disguise and walks over to the leader, who attempts to punch him many times to no avail as the disguised Sludge simply dodges each attack. The disguised Sludge smacks the leader's face. The leader's head is hit back into the Plumber vehicle. While not knocking him out like the other members of his team, his helmet is knocked off of his head by the force, revealing Max Tennyson's face. Big Chill ceases to struggle as he turns his head and sees this. Big Chill: GRANDPA! A green glow explodes from Big Chill, breaking his hardened sludge confinement. In his place a moment later is Heatblast, standing up straight and facing the disguised Sludgepuppy. Heatblast: I heard you guys aren't fans of fire. He blasts at the human-disguised Sludge standing in front of Max, but the Sludge spins its neck and head around 180 degrees and manages to reflect the flame ball back at Heatblast as well as a piece of sludge. The piece of sludge manages to hit Heatblast perfectly on his Omnitrix symbol, reverting Ben back to human. Ben: Hey! The Sludgepuppy originally to the left of the center Sludgepuppy smacks the human Ben down the street. As he flies, he attempts to use the Assault Omnitrix but realizes the sludge is hardening on the whole Omnitrix, preventing him from using it. Ben ends up having to protect himself from his fall once more by putting his arms out in front of him. He continues to land on his stomach, rolling to a painful stop on his stomach. Meanwhile, the second (right) and third (left) Sludgepuppy revert to their human disguise and walk up to the first one. The first one knocks Max once more, effectively making him unconscious. Sludgepuppy #1 (center): Get the ship. The second and third Sludgepuppies nod. The two stretch their arms back to the ship and pull it off of the top of the cinema, allowing some rubble on the top to fall onto the floor. They place their ship in the middle of the street in front of the Plumber Humvee. Negas, download 180. The ship morphs into a Plumber Humvee. I'll drive. Load him into the front passenger seat. Sit in the back, get what you can. The third disguised Sludgepuppy picks up Max, removing him from the hardened sludge on the ground with ease, while the first runs to and gets into the driver's door. The second continues to the left side passenger seat and enters. The third gets to the front passenger door, opens it while holding Max in one hand, then puts both hands back under Max. He seats Max in the front passenger seat. He shuts the door, opens the back right side door, and seats himself. He closes the door. He taps on the back of Max's seat, and a blue screen appears with a darker blue loading bar. The bar fills quickly. As soon as it does so, the third Sludge begins to scroll through a long list of files until managing to stop at one exact one titled "Camile Mann-Tennyson." He reads through the file, which is in an alien language, then with the press of a button, sends the information to a similarly blue-screened GPS on the dashboard of the Humvee. Sludgepuppy #2: Data's ready, M. Sludgepuppy #1: Thank you, Trenc. Before we leave, (he reaches into a compartment in front of Max and pulls out an ID Mask) It'll draw less suspicion from any local enforcement that dares to apprehend us if we all look awake. He puts the mask onto Max's face, transforming Max into one of the suited men in glasses. He begins to push in on the wheel, causing the horn to blow. He releases the wheel. I forget. This is no ship. The first Sludgepuppy puts his hand on the stick below the dashboard. He then pushes down on the accelerator, and the car takes off at super speeds. As Ben watches the Humvee take off, he finally manages to get up. He gets up on his feet and turns around to see Max missing. He looks down the street to across the street from the cinema, where the DX Mark 10 is parked behind the Plumber Humvee. He also sees Julie. We transition to the interior of the DX Mark 10, where Ben loads Julie, body hardened in sludge, into the front passenger seat. He shuts her door and rushes around to the driver's door, opening it and seating himself. He shuts his door, pulls his keys out of his pockets, and starts up the car. He presses a button on the dashboard that opens a list of his contacts. He selects "Gwen Tennyson," high up on the non-alphabetic list. A call begins. Gwen quickly picks up. Gwen (call): Ben. I was just about to call you. Did you hear what happened at the movies? Ben: Yeah, I was there, with Julie. Gwen: Oh...are you both alright? Ben: Yeah. Julie's a bit tied up right now, though. Gwen: What do you mean? Ben: Are you with Kevin? Gwen: Yeah, but-- Ben: Get Kevin to absorb something strong and have his car ready to go. I'll explain everything when I get there. Gwen: Alright. You need me at all? Ben: Yeah. Make sure you're able to track someone. Gwen: Okay, but-- Ben: Talk later. Be there in about five minutes. Gwen: Okay. Ben presses on the call screen. We get a view of outside the car, where Ben has readied the car for driving off. He heads off down the street at a standard speed. are now in front of Gwen's house. Kevin's car is out front, with Gwen and Kevin, covered in a layer of metal, standing just behind it on the sidewalk. Ben pulls up in the DX Mark 10, parking behind Kevin's car. He rushes out of the car, shutting the driver's door. He then opens the passenger door, revealing a now-awake Julie. Kevin: Tennyson, what did you call us-- Ben: Come here first. Kevin walks over to the DX Mark 10 and finds Julie. Kevin: Whoa. Is that hardened sludge? Ben: Yeah. Break it. Kevin: Why can't you? Ben says nothing, simply showing the Omnitrix, covered in hardened sludge, to Kevin. Oh. As Kevin turns his hand into a metal pickaxe, beginning to dig into the hardened sludge, Gwen walks over to the bunch and speaks. Gwen: So, wait, sludge? What happened at the movies? Ben: You remember the Sludgepuppies? Gwen: You mean those big purple aliens that invaded Aunt Camille's wedding? Ben: Yeah. They're back. They're looking for. I think they said that Camille was forced to marry, or that that's what they think happened. Gwen: But she wasn't forced. They came before, and Camille showed them she wanted to be with Uncle Joel. Ben: Well, looks like they don't believe them. These guys are really powerful, though. They turned me back from Heatblast, covered the Omnitrix and sludge, and even knocked out Julie and five Plumbers—including Grandpa. Gwen gasps. Gwen: They have Grandpa? Ben: Yeah. They said Grandpa knows where Camille is. Kevin: So they're using him for directions. That's easy to stop. We just have to track them down. Gwen: Which is where I come in. Ben: So I say we track down Grandpa. Gwen: Alright. What do you have from Grandpa? Ben: What do you mean? Gwen: I can't track anybody from nothing. I need something that has their DNA or essence on it. Ben: Oh...I don't think I have anything. We can go to his store and check in there for something. Kevin: We don't have to. He smacks down on the hardened sludge once more and makes a perfect hit that cracks the hardened sludge in half. Julie breaks out of the sludge, leaving the shell in two pieces in the seat. She jumps out of the car. You can thank me later for leaving such little mess. Now. He uses his pickaxe to break a piece of hardened sludge off of the two-piece shell in the passenger seat. He hands it to Gwen, who awkwardly accepts it. If those Sludges have Max, then to get to him, we just need to get to them. Ben: That's...actually a good idea, Kevin. Kevin: I try. Gwen: Alright. Gwen seats herself with criss-crossed legs in the air. Her eyes glow, and the piece of sludge begins to float in front of her. They're pretty far, and...they know where Camille is. They're going pretty fast, too. Kevin: How are we going to chase them? Gwen: I've got an idea. Head in the car. I can do this alone. Kevin runs around to seat himself in the driver's seat, entering and closing the driver door which had already been open. Meanwhile, Gwen places the piece of hardened sludge Kevin had given her on top of Kevin's car's hood. Gwen then rushes into her seat. Kevin's car idles for a moment, then Kevin exits the car with a pickaxe hand again and hits down on Ben's Omnitrix, the arm on which Ben had kept held up waiting for Kevin to hit through. Kevin then slumps back over to his car and seats himself. Ben: Thanks. Ben runs to the driver's seat of the DX Mark 10 and seats himself. Julie throws the hardened sludge shells out onto the curb near Gwen's family's trash can outside. Julie then enters the passenger seat and shuts the passenger door. Ben peeks his head out the window. Lead the way, guys! Kevin departs from his car's curb parking and drives off. Ben in the DX Mark 10 follows suit. move to a long road in the middle of a rural area where the Sludgepuppies are driving through in this night which is quickly losing its brightness. The driving disguised Sludgepuppy looks in his side mirror and sees two cars pulling quickly up behind them. He pushes down harder on the accelerator but doesn't manage to garner much more speed before the cars become increasingly closer. The cars soon separate and come around the Plumber Humvee. The driver of the Humvee stops completely causing the two cars--Kevin's car and the DX Mark 10--to scratch sides. Kevin and Ben (in unison): MY CAR! Both Ben's and Kevin's car screech to a stop in a way that creates a roadblock out of the two cars. The occupants of both cars leap out of their vehicles. Ben transforms into Buzzshock and zooms towards the Plumber Humvee and sends a pulse through the whole car that disables its engine. The roof of the car slides back as the car sends its passengers out of the car. The driver remains seated. Buzzshock: Where's my grandpa? Sludgepuppy #1 (disguised as a human, driver): You'll never find out. Buzzshock: Grr...He punches the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and transforms into Humungousaur. He sends his fist down in the Sludgepuppy's direction, but as the disguised Sludge protects himself from the attack by placing his arms out in front of him, Humungousaur sends his fist down into the engine instead. There is a large explosion, which sends the Sludgepuppy into the air out of his disguise. As he falls, he grabs the ID Mask-disguised Max. He falls for the ground and throws the ID Mask off of Max's face. He pulls a gun out of the trunk of the humvee and points it to Max's face. He wraps the gun in his sludge so he is able to shoot it, but nothing is able to blast the gun out of his hand. Humungousaur: GRANDPA! Sludgepuppy #1 (in true form): Give us Camille now. Female Voice: You want her? You've got her. Sludgepuppy #1: Wha--? Through the roadblock created by Kevin's car and the DX Mark 10 comes Camille Mann-Tennyson, in a black shirt. Her stomach is outstanding from her body, while the rest of her body does not stay consistent with the obesity connoted by the belly. Camille/Female Voice: Mgggle, what are you doing here? Humungousaur: Migel? That's an alien name? Camille: Yeah, but it's spelled with three g's, not as you might expect it to be spelled. Mgggle/Sludgepuppy #1: What's that on your stomach, Camille? Have they forced you to create offspring? Camille: It's not what you think, M. Mgggle: What do you mean? Camille: M, I appreciate the fact that you sent Trenc and Fdd here. Humungousaur: Fud? He reverts to human. Ben: What kind of name is-- Camille: Watch it, Ben. Thank you for protecting me, by the way. I won't need it anymore. M, I wasn't forced into marriage. I agreed to it. I wanted to marry Joel. It meant a truce between our people. Mgggle: But we sent down your ex-boyfriend and your parents. They never returned to the homeworld. Gwen: The Plumbers took them to prison. They tried to kill our uncle, and a bunch of the other Tennysons there at the wedding. Kevin: Sounds like they'll be doing hard time. Ben: But you don't have to if you go back to your home planet. Camille: Again, I thank you for coming all this way, but M, I'm safe. I'm in the hands of family. Joel, the Tennysons, they're my family. And you guys are, too. Mgggle lays Max down onto the floor. Mgggle: I see. Will the Plumbers be able to arrange transport back to our home? He looks to the broken Humvee, which reverts to the ship the Sludgepuppies had taken to Earth. The front of it is crushed. Our ship, a VMH called the Negas, will need heavy repairs after what this Tennyson did to it. Ben: Err, sorry. Julie (reverting to human form from Galvanic Mechamorph suit): You're saying that a lot today. Ben: I guess so. Mgggle: I am truly sorry for what was done today. We will not intervene again, Camille. Camille: Thank you, Mgggle. You can come visit whenever. Mgggle nods, a smile on his face. Ben: Can I just get something from you, Migel? Mgggle: What would that be? Ben raises his Omnitrix over in front of Mgggle's face. The tower pops up, the hourglass now yellow. It performs a swift scan then falls into itself. Omnitrix: Sludgepuppy DNA sample now available in Playlist 12. Ben immediately smacks down on the Omnitrix, transforming into a Sludgepuppy with a small shirt like the one he wears in his human form on him. The Omnitrix is on his forehead. Sludgepuppy Alien: Muckslide! slide into space, taking to the inside of the throne room in the Tertiary Wing. A Sludgepuppy enters, walks up to the base of the altar, and bows. He then faces the Commander and throws aside his ID Mask, revealing Albedo in his human form. Albedo: The deed is done. Thep Khufan Commander: What did you learn? Albedo: Ben is on edge. He seems to be taking less concern for the lives of guilty people. Thep Khufan Commander: Then we put ourselves on our highest guard for the future. Albedo: Yes. Thep Khufan Commander: Before I dismiss you, I must say your infiltration on the Sludgepuppy's ship was executed well. It's the stealthiest mission I've ever seen you perform. Albedo: Thank you, Commander. It wasn't much. Albedo nods to the Commander. Thep Khufan Commander: Dismissed. Albedo bows once more and leaves the room. Outside, he bumps into Sii, who accidentally hits a pivotal point on Albedo's left knee. Albedo feels a strong pulse across his body. He cries out in pain. Albedo: Errrgh, what was that pain? Albedo lifts his left pant leg revealing a robotic leg, which is now bent in the wrong direction. What is this? Sii stands there awkwardly. Sii: I guess you got a robot leg some time? Awkwardly: Heh, heh, heh... Albedo: You know what this is, don't you? Sii: Well... Albedo: Tell me, Sii. What is this? Sii stands there with an awkward look. She looks to Albedo, then realizes the Commander in the background, peeking out of his room at the scene. The Commander slowly leans back into his room after gesturing "I'm watching you." Sii looks down to Albedo with a serious face. Sii: Albedo...the Commander's been doing some work on you. Albedo: What kind of work? Sii: He...he tried to clone you. Albedo's eyes widen. We close on a view of his face. OF SHORT Characters *Ben Tennyson *Julie Yamamoto *Gwen Tennyson *Kevin Levin *Max Tennyson *Camille Mann-Tennyson *Plumbers Villains *Mgggle *Trenc *Fdd *Albedo (Endgame only) *Thep Khufan Commander Tersce Tenebrosi (Endgame only) *Sii (Endgame only) Aliens Used (by Ben) *Humungousaur (x2) *Rath *Big Chill *Heatblast *Buzzshock *Muckslide (first appearance) Disguises Used (by Albedo) *Sludgepuppy (Fdd) Allusions *The Sludgepuppies' ship is called the Negas, based on the titular robot from former Cartoon Network series Megas XLR. Trivia *It is the last short to take place during or to pertain to Season 1 of the main series. Category:Episodes Category:BiA Exclusive Episodes Category:Ben 10: Alien Universe Chronology Category:Shorts